Tough lessons learned for Panthers kids

The silver lining to an awful year? The kids grew.

SUNRISE — — The education came in various ways to all of them. For forward Jonathan Huberdeau, who scored on the first shot of his first NHL game, it started in his second, struggling game.

"I learned you've got to be consistent, night after night," he said.

For goalie Jacob Markstrom, a victim of early goals when he arrived, it was the idea "a goal in the first minute or 50th minute counts the same, so relax and just play," he said.

For the 6-foot-6, 215-pound Nick Bjugstad, the rookie education came from going into a corner one night in Pittsburgh against 245-pound Douglas Murray.

"Usually, in college, I could just stick my backside out to protect the puck,'' Bjugstad said. "Murray knocked me over like a little kid. Guys are definitely bigger, older and stronger up here [in the NHL]. I need to put on some weight and get stronger."

He chuckled. "I learned that quick."

That's the question for all of the rookies in an awful season: What did they learn? This Panthers season was so miserable, from all the injuries to all the disappointments to all the losing, the only way to salvage anything from it is for these rookies to take advantage of their class of NHL 101.

"It was kind of overwhelming at first, to get out there in your first game, and it's all different,'' said Quinton Howden, 21.

"Just the pace of the game took a while to get used to,'' said Drew Shore, 22.

It wasn't all inside-hockey stuff, either. Bjugstad, who arrived off the University of Minnesota campus for the final 11 games, lined up against Washington's Alex Ovechkin in his first game. It took a while to compose the moment.

"I grew up watching him,'' he said.

This was a roster that could have used a clinic on the daily tasks of a pro hockey player, like tipping locker-room help and how luggage was equipment that was packed for you.

"I was used to packing and carrying the equipment in San Antonio,'' defenseman Alex Petrovic said. "We'd wait by the luggage rack to pick up our equipment. Here, we flew on chartered plane flights, even for 30-minute flights like to Tampa, and your stuff was packed for you. It's a different world."

The story of this Panthers season was injury. Ed Jovanovski hurt his hip to the point he flew to Germany for a week to have the doctor who treated Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant inject plasma into it. The hip improved. He re-injured it his first game back.

"Just a bad year,'' Jovanovski said.

In a lost season, youth became the hope. Huberdeau scored 14 goals, one behind team leader Tomas Kopecky, and might win the league's Rookie of the Year award. But he learned a lesson from Boston's 6-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara when going after a puck that most learned at one point.

"I need to get bigger,'' he said.

"I've got to get stronger,'' Shore said.

"I want to get to 230 pounds eventually,'' Bjugstad said.

This will be the generation that pulls the Panthers back to annual relevancy, if that indeed comes. General Manager Dale Tallon goes to Toronto on Monday night for a coin flip to decide if the Panthers get the first or second overall draft pick.

"We know we're getting another good, young player wherever we pick,'' he said.

It's a good year to have a good draft pick. That's the silver lining to this dreadful season. That and the rookies learning. They grew. Many of them did so while playing beyond expectation.

Still, the common denominator of their education came in the standings.

"As a first-year pro, I've never ended a season without meaningful games,'' Shore said. "So a lot of us saw what that's like, and saw how you want to be in the NHL. But more importantly you want to win."